The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Echinacea plant botanically known as Echinacea×hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Balsomenco’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Elburn, Ill. during September 2007. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Echinacea cultivars with a single inflorescence form having imbricate ray florets and a well-branched, compact growth habit.
The new Echinacea cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Echinacea×hybrida breeding selection coded E30-2, U.S. Pat. No. 7,982,110, characterized by its single-type, red-orange colored inflorescences, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is from a bulk pollen mix of 7 proprietary breeding selections coded E30-1 through E30-7, U.S. Pat. No. 7,982,110, characterized by their single-type, shades of red-orange colored inflorescences, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during October 2008 in a controlled environment in Elburn, Ill.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by in vitro propagation since October 2008 in West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.